By Raymund Antonio
More indigent Filipinos have been benefited by the basic services such as medical and burial assistance provided to them by the Office of the Vice President in 2019.
Vice-President Leni Robredo (OVP / Facebook / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The number of beneficiaries increased to more than 43,545 individuals from 14,200 recorded in December last year. This means the figures were tripled as Robredo marked her three years in office.
Robredo posted on her official Facebook page that the Public Assistance Desk of her office has been on the “frontline” when it comes to providing assistance to indigent Filipinos.
They received assistance from the OVP after their families requested help for hospitalization, dialysis, chemotherapy sessions, medicines, surgery, and other procedures.
The medical assistance is being funded through the annual budget allocated to the country’s second top official.
The OVP also released the data on the number of beneficiaries in partnership with various hospitals and health facilities nationwide.
Her office said there were 13,022 individuals who were benefited through its 25 partner hospitals.
Filipino indigents who will avail themselves of medical assistance are now given a guarantee letter to partner hospitals, mostly from Metro Manila and some regions, instead of cash.
Among the public hospitals in Metro Manila that her office has partnered with are the Navotas City Hospital, Philippine Orthopedic Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, and Doctor Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.
Also included are St. Theresa’s Dialysis Center, Schistosomiasis Control Hospital, Manila Doctor’s Hospital, St. John Biocare and Dialysis Center, and Abron Avitum Philippines Inc.
The OVP also wants to expand the coverage of its medical assistance to include provincial hospitals.